Moudus Quintus
by Tempus Mori
Summary: An ancient prophecy recognized, two Sabbat vampires set out to seek the Outcast and his demidic powers of reincarnation and omnipresence, before the others do... Chapters 2 and 3 up! R&R!
1. The prophesy

Disclaimers: I do NOT own Vampire: The masquerade. I'm only using its terminology and clans. But ALL characters in this, along with the plot line, are MINE! So please, no stealing. Also, I no make money off o dis. ^^ Enjoy!  
  
Aubrey drummed his fingers rapidly on an empty barstool, his impatience getting the best of him. He stared at his *childe in boredom, wondering just when she would come out of her trance like state. Her laptop was balanced gently on her knees, fingers placed unmoving on the keyboard. She stared blankly at the screen, eyes flicking back and forth from time to time.  
  
He quelled the urge to slam his fist into the bar top, knowing it would draw more attention than needed. Aubrey already felt annoyed about being in this place. He tended to avoid human bars unless he was going to feed, or maybe looking for a little 'fun.' This occasion called for neither. In a vampire bar they would be seen by too many prying eyes, and no doubt those damned Nosferatu would be lurking about in the shadows somewhere, dying for any little bit of information they could get their malformed hands on. Anyways, the place would be crawling with Camarilla incompetents.  
  
He sighed and sat down on the bar stool, resting his arm on the counter top. Almost the instant his flesh made contact he jerked back sharply, as if stung. Aubrey looked down at the counter, an object he had failed to pay much attention to before now. It was on opaque black glass, polished to a mirror like shine. The Lasombra turned away uneasily, his discomfort apparent. Now he knew why Saya had refused to set her computer down. He just figured she was being difficult and in his rushed state hadn't taken the time to think otherwise. A soft click drug him out of his thoughts and he looked up at Saya. She had closed her laptop and returned it to her side bag. "Got it."  
  
She smiled in a childlike manner and then snickered when she noticed how he was sitting. "Saw the counter huh?"  
  
Aubrey narrowed his eyes and a low growl emitted from his throat, warning her not to push it. Says smiled and shrugged it off. She knew her *sire would do nothing more than show his disapproval at tiny insults, but would stand for little more. She did so cautiously, knowing what buttons she could push and get away with it. After spending countless millennia with a single person, one learns those things.  
  
"So?" Aubrey prodded, "Where is it?"  
  
Saya slid off her stool excitedly, "Egypt." She smiled with joy at the thought of her homeland.  
  
He nodded, "Makes sense, though I figured it would have been moved after his death."  
  
Saya fidgeted, apparently unable to keep still, "That's the great thing, it's still with his body!"  
  
He raised an eyebrow, "His body? I'd think after all this time there'd be nothing left."  
  
She shook her head, "He's not dead. He's immortal Aubrey; he's been in *Torpor awaiting his reawakening. And were going to be the ones to do it. Just think, we can actually talk to him, he can tell us all he's seen." She trailed off, grinning dreamily at the very prospect.  
  
"What!?" Aubrey shouted, drawing a few curious onlookers and pulling Saya out of her fantasy. She frowned, but explained nonetheless.  
  
"God himself gave him immortality and endowed him with the power to do his bidding, time would mean nothing to him."  
  
He looked skeptic, "And you learned all of this off of the internet?"  
  
She rolled her eyes, "of course not. I decoded an Egyptian text recently discovered by a group of archeologists. I hacked into their database and read it. Its ancient Samarian, guess what language I used to speak."  
  
He nodded in acknowledgement and stood. He was a full two heads taller than the Egyptian girl, and pretty much dwarfed her in size when they stood next to each other. Saya tugged on his wrist like a small child would its mother, "Um.can I get something to eat before we leave?" she asked sheepishly. As if in response to her question her stomach growled loudly. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and he nodded in the affirmative.  
  
Saya forced her way into the throng of sweaty bodies, each swaying in its own rhythm to the hypnotic beat of the music. Her golden eyes scanned over the crowd like a hawks would, individually examining every form.  
  
They rested upon a lean man, probably around his late 20's. She grinned and moved strategically through the mass of flesh, only pausing in front of him. She locked eyes with her target and he immediately stopped moving. "Come," she muttered, motioning him forward. He did as he was told and followed her over to where Aubrey was.  
  
Saya smiled happily, took Aubreys hand, and proceeded to leave the club. The man followed as well and didn't stop until Saya relinquished her hold on his mind a couple miles down the road.  
  
He blinked and looked around, confused. "W-where am I? How did I get here?" he stuttered in utter bafflement. He spotted Saya and her not-too-friendly looking companion. "Who are you? And why am I here?"  
  
Saya cocked her head and grinned, "Don't you remember? You decided to join me for dinner."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, "I did?"  
  
She nodded, "Yes, you did." She sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him in place. He squirmed in surprise at her strength, and let out a yelp as she elongated her fangs and sank them into the soft flesh at the base oh his neck. She drained him quickly and dropped his lifeless body like a discarded toy. "All done!"  
  
Aubrey grinned and moved over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I can see that." He licked the excess blood from her lips playfully and tugged on her to start walking.  
  
Her computer bag bounced gently at her side as they walked. "So.are we catching the next flight to Egypt?"  
  
Aubrey snorted, "Sure, if you fancy barbeque. Ill make sure you get a window seat."  
  
She pursed her lower lip in a mock pout, "You know what I meant."  
  
He leaned over and bit her protruding bottom lip and growled. Saya grinned and kissed him. "You're forgiven."  
  
He shook his head and smiled, "I'll make a couple calls, well leave tomorrow morning  
  
Her jaw dropped and she rapped on his head with her knuckles, "Have you gone daft? Well burn!"  
  
He swatted her hand away in annoyance. "Don't you think I know that? I have ways of getting us there. Anyways, we need to get there at night. While its day here, its night there."  
  
Saya sighed, "I know that, I'm not stupid."  
  
Aubrey looked at his watch, "Come on, we have to get back to the house. While you sleep Ill call my contacts." She nodded in agreement, anxious to start moving. Like all kindred, she had a built in alarm clock that alerted her when the sun was about to rise. Hers was going off.  
  
"Aubrey, lets use the sewers. It'll be quicker." She said nervously, glancing at the horizon.  
  
"No, too much vermin living down there." She knew he didn't mean the rats, but at this point she couldn't see any other way. Even the speed of the immortal could not outrun the harsh rays of the sun.  
  
Authors Note: Well? Any good? Please R&R! I really want feedback. If I don't get any good then Ill stop, I only did this out of boredom in school. 1.Childe: someone a vampire has turned from human to one of the undead 2.Sire: whoever turned a human, becomes that certain vampires sire. 3.Torpor: A vampiric sleep that can last days, months, or centuries. 


	2. Beneath the sands

Saya looked in the direction of the rapidly rising sun, "Lets use the shadows while we can." She suggested. Both moved into an alleyway off to their right, standing in what little dark was left. Their forms seemed to become enveloped in an impenetrable black ink and they sank to the ground like liquid shadow. The shadows slithered quickly along the ground for several minutes, covering miles in a short amount of time.

They turned into an old manor and went underneath the doors, making their way into the basement. The pair slipped underneath yet another door; only this one was seven inches of solid steel set in a concrete floor. There was no lock or latch or any means to get it open. In fact, it looked like part of the cement. The only thing that would draw any attention to it at all was a 10-inch crack in the floor about a centimeter wide.

The two non-corporeal forms slipped through the crack and down into the room below, then became Aubrey and Saya once again. Saya immediately collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, bloody sweat furrowing on her brow. Aubrey, too, was drained, but he maintained his composure, standing straight and showing no signs of tiredness.

Saya crawled across the carpeted floor and up onto the plush bed. The room was slightly larger than the basement above, and more 'lived in' than the rest of the house, so to speak. There were no windows and numerous lamps and light fixtures lighted it. A queen-sized bed covered in scarlet blankets was placed in the far left corner against the wall, with a nightstand at its side. A large oak desk with many cords and papers sat at the foot of the bed, and here Saya placed her laptop.

Aubrey sank down onto a black leather couch placed in the center of the room. He rested his feet on the red wood coffee table in front of him and leaned back, enjoying the comfort. Many paintings and sculptures lined the walls, but there was an obvious lack of any mirrors. Or any reflective surfaces for that matter. Saya got up and lay down on the couch, placing her head in Aubrey's lap. He played with her black hair absently and stared at the wall, lost in one thought or another. He shook his head to clear his mind and fished through the pocket of his faded black jeans, jolting Sayas head a bit. She grumbled a little and repositioned herself, closing her eyes and going back to sleep.

Aubrey pulled out a small cell phone and punched in numbers, then waited for it to ring. "Decarlo." A ruff voice answered on the other end. "Its Chazar, I need transportation by nightfall." Shifting could be heard and the ruffling of someone rummaging through papers. "Done. Will be there 5 minutes after sunset." The line went dead and Aubrey clicked the cell phone shut. He leaned his head against the back of the couch, the pressure of Saya on his lap comforting.

His black eyes scanned her still form, calloused fingers dancing gently across the exposed flesh of her stomach for a brief instant. Cold. The absence of the rise and fall of her chest was an obvious give away that this young girl, no more than 19 in physical age, was no longer counted among the living. She looked out of place in these new ages, as did many of the old ones.

Her dark skin had paled little since her embrace. That accompanied with her slanted eyes and coal black hair gave her away as Egyptian, among other things. The jeans and cotton t-shirt she was in seemed misplaced on her.

The scantily clad robes of her ancient people would have been a more appropriate choice. Unfortunately, that was not an option for her. Though how many people would question the odd choice of dress was uncertain in such a random place like New York. The freaks, odd balls and high crime rate made it easy hiding and choice hunting grounds.  
Aubrey growled at the word. Hiding. There should be no need to hide. The children of Caine were higher on the food chain, they were the predators of the living world, what need did the immortal have for hiding? Yet they did, as they had for thousands of years.  
The Sabbat had grown weary of the Masquerade, and had stopped indulging in the rules and regulations, much to the Camarillas displeasure. _It's about time we stopped this foolish game of hide and seek._ He thought to himself.

He came out of his revelation and looked at his watch. He had been thinking for a while now and the time was drawing nearer to leave. Rousing the sleeping childer on his lap would be some task, as waking any vampire before sunset would be.

Aubrey sighed and stood, knocking Saya off his lap. She did not stir at the movement, only recoiled into a more comfortable position. He rolled his eyes and withdrew a dagger from its sheath on his ankle. A quick flick of the tip across his finger and a crimson black drop emerged from the small cut.

After smearing the vitae across Sayas lips, he gingerly licked the tiny wound, and it closed up immediately, no mark left to speak of.

Saya's eyes popped open as she licked her sires blood off her lips. Already he was moving around, gathering what few items were needed. She savored what little blood she had received and stretched, ignoring the pull of habit to yawn as well.  
Aubrey tossed the necessities into a small duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder, "Are you ready yet?" Saya eyed him groggily and grabbed her beloved computer, clutching it to her chest, "Yes." She stated blankly. "Now how are we getting out of here without burning?"  
"Like we always do. The sun will be down in..." He looked at his watch briefly, "3 minutes." She blinked, "It's really been that long?" He nodded, making a few strands of raven hair fall into his face. He brushed it away absently and moved under the crack, which was more visible from underneath.

The Egyptian girl did likewise. Their bodies faded into the surrounding darkness

simultaneously, leaving only two foggy masses were they had stood. Both moved up and thought the 'exit' and into the house above before zipping under the front door and into the awaiting limo.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	3. In the eyes of the beholder

The windows were blacked out and every door was insulated, creating a vacuum like seal every time it was closed. The two rematerialized and sat on the seats comfortably. Aubrey leaned forwards and tapped on the glass separating the cabin from the rest of the car. It slid open with a mechanical click and a mans stern face appeared.

He appeared to be somewhere in his thirties, blonde hair buzzed short and green eyes hardened by time. A few scars adorned his face, but the one that stuck out most was a little pucker mark by the collarbone. Aubrey smirked. 'So, a soldier huh?' He thought before speaking.

"We need to get to the airport." He looked back at Saya, who had her laptop open once again. She looked up at him, "Tarmac 7." His eyes flicked back to the driver, "Get that?" The Ghoul nodded and the window slid shut again.

"Whose is he?" Saya asked absently, still typing away on her computer. "Decarlo's." This time she looked up, "The Giovanni?" She raised an eyebrow at this, "And he's doing favors for you why?" He cracked a grin, his black eyes making it seem more sinister than it was, "We have a business association of sorts." She knew better than to ask what, but her curious mind started reeling over the possibilities. What kind of business could he possibly have with a Necromancer?

The Giovanni were influential businessmen, yes, but why would one be compelled to help a member of the Sabbat? Much less a Lasombra. She kept her thoughts to herself though, shifting her eyes on him once she was sure he was asleep, or at least faking it. She always found it peculiar that he had chosen her to be his Childe, and though she questioned him about it, he had never supplied an answer. He had always been like that, never straight about anything.

She looked at him curiously, contemplating the enigma that was her sire. He had ear length hair, the colour of ravens feathers. It fell at odd angles around his face, contrasting with his fair skin. She knew little about his mortal life. Just as most vampires would refuse to talk about it, so did he. The only thing she knew for certain was that he was born, both by vampire and human, in Rome. At times she was compelled to believe that he had been a soldier, maybe a general. Just the way he acted, the way his very presence commanded attention. The Roman military was the mightiest force the world had ever known. They served themselves before anyone else, taking orders and giving their loyalties to only their generals. The mere name of the murderous band struck fear in even the bravest of men. Such ferocity and skill has never again been seen by the world since the days of the Romans.

But if that was so, then how did he manage to find her? She had only turned 19 a few weeks before she was changed into a childe of Caine. A servant girl that worked in the palace of the Pharaoh, she gave her every service to him, cleaning and running whatever errands she was told. And anything...else...he commanded of her. Saya cringed at the old memory and looked over at her sire. He had saved her. Saved her from that horrible life of servitude. He had stayed with her, even to this day; instead of abandoning her like so many other sires chose to do to their fledglings.

With his help, she was changed from the prey, to the predator. She learned the skills of her clan. Learned to warp them to her will, and after they were mastered, learned to manipulate others to it as well. He had been surprised at her speed to learn these things, she could tell. Perhaps that was why the Egyptian girl had tried so hard. Every time he would nod in approval, or give some sign that he was impressed, she would beam.

So it went for years, learning how to survive, to hunt, until everything was second nature. Then she had wanted revenge. Revenge on the Pharaoh that had taken her innocence. Ever since the day she was changed, after realizing that the laws of society no longer applied to her, she thirsted for his blood. She wanted to drain every last drop and throw his lifeless body before her sire, as a prize. And so she did. The expression on his face as his servant girl, whom he had ravaged so many times, exposed her fangs and laughed as he lay dieing on the floor, was one she would never forget.

"Saya."

The girl blinked and looked up, "hm?" Aubrey's black eyes stared at her, then flicked down to her screen. She looked at him for a moment before following the path of his eyes. The bright plasma screen showed images of hieroglyphics, unreadable to him and everyone else, but perfectly legible to her. She reread the lines before speaking them aloud to him.

"Beneath the sand the secrets lay,

To the circle of power the secrets take,

Across the map to the seven treasures,

Without the eye they can be severed."

She wrinkled her nose and typed in something, "That's it?" She grumbled aloud. "That's not very helpful at all." Aubrey's frown seemed to match her own, "No. Its really not. Are you sure there isn't another tablet?" She scanned the page quickly, and then shook her head, "There may be, but there's no mention of it here." The Egyptian sighed, "Well it certainly seems like were going in the right direction. 'Beneath the sand the secrets lay.' Egypt has a lot of sand." Said as a matter of factly, as if he did not already know this.

If this fact irritated him, he said nothing. "Perhaps. But we wont know for sure unless we go and...question...those archeologists." The girl smiled, "true." Her smile quickly faded and she looked up at the drivers cab. "Is that so..." she murmured. Her eyes drifted from the front of the car to Aubrey, who looked more confused than anything else, then down to her computer. After a few punched in commands, a word document appeared on her desktop. Saya motioned for Aubrey to look as she typed, and he leaned in to see what she was trying to show him.

_The driver is going to report all we have learned to your 'friend' Mr. Decarlo. He is voicing his thoughts a little too loudly._

Aubrey clenched his fist in anger, but quickly relaxed with a soothing touch from Saya. He looked at her and turned the computer towards himself. He could not use it as well as his childer, but well enough to know how to type, albeit not as speedily. However, that did not matter. His message was simple.

_Do something about it._

She grinned and set her laptop on the seat next to her, then crawled across the leather interior and the carpet to the window that separated the cab from the rest of the car. She wrapped on the window with her knuckles and a second later it slid smoothly open with a mechanical 'whirring' noise. The driver looked back at her in his rear view mirror. Or attempted to at least, because she did not appear in it. He seemed shocked for a second, and then remembered whom it was he was dealing with and regained his composure.

"What is it?" He asked gruffly. She folded her hands together and set them on the ledge, resting her chin on top of them. She smiled innocently at him. "I just wanted to tell you something." He glanced back for a split second, eyeing her warily. "Oh yah? And what would that be?" She tipped her head in a quizzical manner, like a child would, "Just that you are not going to tell Mr. Decarlo anything." He laughed, "And why's that?"

She locked eyes with him in the mirror, unbeknownst to him. Though he could not see her, she could see him perfectly fine. She whispered words into his mind, keeping him driving, focused on the road. Then she opened his mind. His memories fell to her, only a few drops of water in a vast sea. She spread them before her and found what she was looking for.

_"You will report to me everything you hear, down to the last detail. I want to know where he is going. Whatever he's found, it has to be powerful. He would not go out of his way for anything trivial. I want to know what it is."_

Decarlo faded away as she tucked the memory safely where she found it, then moved on to the next one. The drive to pick them up. She held it in her hand and closed her fist on it. It evaporated. In its place she made a new memory, specific details leading to a hotel, not to their safe house.

Next came the conversations Aubrey and her had shared during the previous hour, including directions to the flight they would be taking. Those she changed. He now thought they were to be dropped off at JFK airport for a flight headed to Germany.

Finally, she deleted and replaced the rest of the conversations completely, filling it instead with idle chatter from her and the grunts of acknowledgement Aubrey so frequently gave, for her pleasure mostly. She went into detail on all of these memories, adding dialogue the driver himself had. In his head of course. Rude thoughts and comments seemed adequate enough.  
Saya could already feel the drain this was having on her, but it was not finished completely; safety precautions needed to be taken. She put a 'timer', so to speak, on all of these memories. Now that they were created, she would be able to release them from a safe distance, namely once the real flight had taken off and was en-route to Cairo.

As a final security measure, she put a lock on all of this. If Decarlo somehow found out about his ghouls altered memories and tried to undo them, the force of the initial release would either kill the subject immediately, or send him into a catatonic state, completely destroying his mind. Either way, the original memories became totally inaccessible, which is what she wanted.

By the time all of this was completed, a total of two minutes had passed. "Hey! I asked you a question!" He yelled at her. She smiled wearily, and instead it came off as a rude sneer, "No reason Donor, just keep driving." She used the derogative term for a ghoul in order to get a rise out of him. And considering the shade of red he turned as she pressed the button to roll up the dividing window, it worked.

She returned to her seat and closed her eyes, exhausted. It had been a while since she had used any major Disciplines, and a while further since she had used two at once. Both Mesmerize and the Forgetful Mind took quite a lot of skill to use. Not only had she done both at once, but also managed to pull it off in only two minutes with skilled ease. Not the easy task. Needless to say, she was exhausted. Her normally dark ebony skin was now an ash white and her lips matched the white cotton of her shirt.

The girl moaned pitifully and slumped onto Aubrey's shoulder. It was obvious to him that she needed blood soon, and he did not think the airport delivered. He sighed inwardly and hoisted her onto his lap, twining his arms around her small waist and reaching down into his boot to the dagger he kept there. He looked over her shoulder as he cut a smooth line onto his skin. A perfect deep red strip of blood appeared on his ivory wrist, and he held it up to her lips. "Don't be getting used to this," he grumbled, "drink."

Saya sniffed the air at the prominent scent of vitae. She opened her eyes and peered at the offering in front of her, taking it up thankfully, and somewhat greedily. She pressed her lips against the wound and drank deeply of her sires blood. How ironic, she thought as the cool liquid slipped down her throat, that I'm doing this again. If in any way this blood letting irritated or hurt Aubrey, he made no move to show that it did, as usual. He let her drink only a few gulps, as a vampire's blood is more potent than a humans, then pulled away. Saya made no move to stop him, but was quite reluctant to let him go.

She smiled at him, one of the true smiles she saved for him only, "Thank you." He looked over at her, his face stoic, and said, "You're welcome." Her pleasant smile turned into a beam. It was not that often he replied to her thanks. How it was that she had managed to fall in love, or as much of love as you could call it, with the man that initially killed her and condemned her to never see the light of day again was beyond her. 'After all these centuries and I'm still trying to figure that one out.' She thought ruefully.

The limousine pulled to an abrupt stop, jerking the two passengers forwards. Aubrey managed to stay somewhat seated, but Saya was sent sprawling across his lap. Despite this fact, she started laughing. Aubrey looked down at her quizzically, "What's so funny?" Her smile remained on her face. "He doesn't like me anymore," she said through a snicker. Her sire rolled his eyes, though it was obvious he too was amused, "You seem to be good at that." Saya made a pouty face, "Hey!" She protested, feigning injury. The mid-cab window rolled down and the ghouls strained face stared back at them. She could tell he was at least making an effort to be nice, so as not to get his head ripped off, as was a likely case.

"We're here."

Aubrey growled, "I can see that, unlock the doors so we can leave. And pop the trunk." He gave the orders nonchalantly and moved to get up, hindered by the lapful of Saya. "You too, get up." She shrugged and grabbed her laptop and stood, or as much as she could, it was closer to a crouch. Aubrey did likewise and then exited the car, moving around the back to grab their duffel bag. Saya followed him.

The driver slammed the trunk down and sneered as he watched them board their plane. "Have a safe flight. Enjoy it while you can." He snickered, unaware of the fate that would soon befall him.


End file.
